Elections held last January in Greece saw Syriza and the Greek Communist Party win a majority of seats in parliament. In the British elections, the SNP in Scotland, which campaigned against austerity, gained a lot of votes and won 56 of 59 seats. In Spain, Podemos and its allies won many seats in the recent local government elections, humiliating the ruling right-wing People’s Party, which lost 2.4 million votes as compared with the prior local elections. In addition to this, there were protests in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow against austerity on June 20 and more than 250,000 came out to protest!

Here in the US, Senator Bernie Sanders is campaigning for President and is calling himself a socialist who wants a political revolution against the billionaire class. Although Socialist Appeal disagrees with his running as a Democrat and we believe that there are many weaknesses in his political program, it is significant that wherever he goes to speak, he is greeted by hundreds and even thousands of people—far more than any other candidate.

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Over the weekend of May 23 and 24, revolutionary Marxists from California, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Madison, Dallas, Kentucky, Ohio, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, and London gathered at the University of Pittsburgh for the 2015 WIL National School. Nearly 60 comrades attended this event, a clear indication of the enthusiasm for the ideas of Marxism amongst the comrades of the American section of the IMT. In the midst of dramatic movements around the world and in the USA itself, the success of this school reflects the need for a clear Marxist understanding of history and current events as the working class struggles to challenge the exploitation and oppression of the capitalist system.

Capitalism has been in a technical recovery since the Great Recession of 2008. After the deepest crisis since World War II, the US government claims the economy had its best year of growth since the economic rebound began. And just how did the economy do last year? It grew by a mere 2.2%. It might not technically be a downturn, but it sure feels like one! So many people are without full-time jobs. Wages are so low, but expenses are so high. Well, perhaps things will improve in 2015? The latest numbers show that first quarter growth in 2015 was a pathetic .2%—just barely over zero.

Although we cannot predict exactly when events are going to happen, it is looking fairly certain that the relative calm of the past few years will not continue. In the relative short term, the instability and upheaval of the class struggle worldwide is likely to arrive here in Canada . . . Seven years after the financial crisis began, there is no hope in sight for the working class. Increasingly, the oppressed sectors of society are beginning to envision a future that does not include capitalism. The conditions that have given rise to this radical turn are now beginning to manifest themselves in Canada, and this country will not be immune to the wave that is sweeping the rest of the planet.